Gaming machines take many forms, such as video gaming machines which conduct video reel slot machine games or video card games, mechanical slot machines, electronic table games, or the like. However, all these gaming machines issue awards similarly. That is, the awards are issued to the player in currency or a form representing currency.
For example, in a typical gaming machine, currency is deposited into the gaming machine via a bill acceptor, or a voucher representing currency is deposited into the gaming machine via a ticket receiver. The amount deposited is tracked as gaming credits in a credit register in the gaming machine. The game is conducted, with wagers deducted from the credit register and winnings added to the credit register. Upon completing a play session, the player depresses a “cash out” button and the balance in the credit register is provided to the player in the form of cash, coin, or, more commonly, a voucher.
A drawback of cash, coin, or vouchers is the possibility of physical loss of the cash, coin, or voucher. For example, vouchers are not tracked in any way that allows a casino to replace a lost, damaged, or destroyed voucher. As may be appreciated, the physical loss of a voucher representing a large sum of money may be very disconcerting for a player.
For the part of the casino, cash, coin, and vouchers can represent a lost opportunity to get the player to spend the money represented. That is, once the player has “cashed out,” the money is very real to the player and he or she may be less likely to participate in further gaming activities.
Additionally, monetary awards have a fixed value to the casino. It is known, for example, that offering prizes in-kind allows the casino to offer a prize that has a greater value to the player than the cost to the casino. For example, Walker, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2003/0013516, discloses a method and apparatus for offering and providing consolation, in-kind prizes based on the player's losses and the player's history of play gleaned from player tracking data.
It can be seen that there is a need in the art for a system and method in which an award is issued for play on a gaming machine by a remote award server based on data communicated between the gaming machine and the award server.